Feeling Faint
by Airbender85
Summary: "D-Draco?" she tried. But before she knew it, she was watching in slow motion as the eyes belonging to one of her least favorite people on the planet lolled-up into his head, and- before she could blink- his body dropped rapidly towards the floor. Draco & Hermione. Rated M for possible FUTURE content-Not current. *Updated to be 3 short(er) chapters instead of 1 mega-long one*
1. Chapter 1

Three-shot? I haven't written FanFiction in a loooong time, so I just wanted to throw this out there for funsies. We'll see where it goes!

My take on the Pre-Sectumsempra scene in HBP. Guess who goes into the bathroom after Malfoy? I'll give you a hint: not Harry.

:) I don't own anything.

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 **Feeling Faint: Chapter 1**

The dull roar of the Great Hall was drowned out by Draco Malfoy's pulse beating in his ears. Trying to appear as normal as possible to avoid drawing attention to himself, he swallowed the hall in long strides, summoning every bit of willpower he possessed to keep from retching as he loosened his necktie with shaking hands.

He eventually reached his destination— the boys bathroom— and lunged his lanky arms forward just in time to catch himself on the edge of the nearest sink as his legs started to buckle under him. He lifted his head and took one look at his sallow, sickly complexion, nose inches from the mirror, and could no longer fight back the sobs that had been building in his core. After a brief moment of fumbling clumsily with the tap, he desperately splashed water on his face in an effort to quell the panic rising within him.

He was crumbling.

He fought to breathe between the sobs and the bubbling nausea, seeing spots amidst his tears, saliva pooling in his mouth, and feeling more and more faint as the seconds passed. Draco had always been prone to fainting. Perhaps that should have been an indicator early on in his life that he was not cut out to serve the Dark Lord…

Draco's most recent bought of self-loathing was cut short, however, when he looked at himself again and realized he was no longer alone. A blurry figure had appeared in the mirror behind him.

He whipped himself around, still needing very much to cling to the sink for support, and his glassy slate eyes connected with a pair that belonged to the person he had least expected to run into in the boys lavatory.

Hermione Granger stood before him. She was still. Her unruly chestnut hair danced around her face, her cheeks were flushed, and her eyes were screwing into him with that typical Granger-intensity. That damn intensity that he loathed so much. But in that split second when their gazes locked, her eyes suddenly widened with… concern, was it? Whatever it was, it was fleeting, and her body then locked down into what, he presumed, was supposed to be a confident and defensive stance.

"Granger" he sputtered as menacingly as he could manage, his eyes narrowing, "Actually, I reckon you _are_ a hideous enough excuse of a girl to use the boys toilets. But for right now you would be wise to get OU—"

"I am not going anywhere until you tell me why you cursed Katie." she retorted unwaveringly.

He seethed. "I don't know what you're talking about, I didn't TOUCH that —"

He was cut short by her swift advance towards him, wand bared, and inches from his pointed nose. He froze and cursed at himself internally. His wand was just in his pocket, but he was so, so close to being ill that his reflexes to grab it when she had come at him had failed him.

"Answer me, you prat." she said through clenched teeth. Draco breathed heavily through his nostrils, mouth clamped shut, still trying with every fibre of his being not to vomit. "Did you also give that poisoned bottle of oak-matured mead to Slughorn hoping he'd give it to Dumbledore?"

Draco could feel his legs growing weaker and swallowed back acid, "Granger" he growled, "Back off—"

"Answer my question" she demanded. He was deteriorating rapidly. Deciding it would not be prudent to waste any more precious energy trying to get rid of her, he just continued to swallow and breathe, focusing as best he could on the tip of her wand. Apparently, his resolution to remain silent had sent her over the edge, though, and without any more hesitation, she proceed to rip into him with a string of threats and accusations. At this point though, he could no longer hear her. Her voice a mere wash of sound as the thumping in his ears grew more and more deafening.

"If you dare…. Hogsmeade for that… I can't BELIEVE… Katie… You disgust me… Harry… Right about… DISGRACE to… Hogwarts…"

Draco was trying to focus on anything. Anything to keep him conscious enough to not end up in a shaking, retching, crumpled mess at her feet. In a last ditch moment of desperation, he broke eye contact with the tip of her wand and let his eyes flash up to meet hers for a second time.

The following he observed in a matter of seconds as he sank closer and closer to edge unconsciousness.

"I promise you that, Malfoy… cursing… You WILL be…"

He noticed her eyes were a golden brown. _(How sickeningly Gryffindor_ , he thought) and flanked by long eyelashes. Letting his eyes pass over the rest of her face, he realized that he had never seen Granger up close before. He'd always been content to focus on being disgusted with her filthy blood from a distance. But, being in the position he was in right now, his prejudices would have to wait. Fighting to remain coherent, he forced himself to really look at her.

 _Anything_ , he repeated in his head, _anything to remain conscious._

Her creamy skin was dusted with barely-there freckles and her cheeks had erupted into an even rosier hue than before. Or perhaps he had only noticed the extent of it now due to their sudden proximity. A thin sheen of sweat illuminated her forehead and cheekbones, and, maybe it was his vision going fuzzier, but she appeared to actually glow amidst her anger. Her hair was brown as ever and untame, and it tumbled quite attractively, Draco thought, around her shoulders, quivering as she continued to accost him. He noted that she was actually a rather striking girl. Just as attractive as any girl that he'd shagged in Slytherin, for sure. He let his eyes go to hers once more. He felt his breath catch and his face soften as he allowed himself to dreamily breathe her in for a second, and, for perhaps the first time in his life whilst interacting with Granger, he deliberately chose to pay no mind to the trusty blood-status slurs ricochetting around in the back of his head.

He hadn't been this physically close to even a friend in months. It was then that he half-consciously realized the extent of how much he'd isolated himself... how deprived he'd been since he had been appointed his mission by the Dark Lord. To even be this close to another human felt _so_ good, even if it was Granger. He felt a lusty shiver pass through him, and he didn't even care. Sanity tends to fall to the wayside when you're trying not to keel over in front of someone.

"D-Draco?"

It seemed she had noticed the odd sudden change in his demeanor, because at some point between now and before, she had stopped verbally attacking. Making a mental note to pummel himself later for his illness-driven thoughts, he succumbed to the attack. His voice floating from between her lips was the last thing that he heard before everything went black.


	2. Chapter 2

**Feeling Faint: Chapter 2**

Hermione Granger charged after Malfoy as he turned the corner out of the Great Hall. _Coward_. She was sick of the assumptions Harry had been making about Malfoy being a death-eater without any evidence to support his ever-bold claims. So that was exactly what she was going to try her damnedest to get out of Draco Malfoy if there was any: evidence.

After all, he had scampered away quite quickly upon seeing Katie up and about again. Maybe Harry was onto something after all.

She didn't even hesitate when she rounded the corner out of the Great Hall and saw Draco heading for the boys bathroom. _No matter._

When she entered the bathroom she saw him hunched over a sink, possibly vomiting. The prospect of evidence lofted through her head once again as she observed him from behind. This, of course, would not deter her either.

Just as she was summoning her most condescending tone to mock him for conveniently "not feeling well" upon seeing Katie up-and-about again, he spotted her in the mirror. She had to stifle a gasp when he turned around. Draco Malfoy had tears in his eyes. And he looked sick and petrified. So... feeble and helpless. She could imagine this same look on a scared, innocent 4 year-old Malfoy's face when he had been a child. Mentally slapping herself for allowing sentiment to get the better of her for a moment, she stood up a little straighter as he greeted her, as usual, with an insult and a demand for her to go elsewhere.

This was a predictable move for Malfoy, and she had been prepared for it. She side-stepped it easily, interrupting him, "I am not going anywhere until you tell me why you cursed Katie."

Again, predictably, he denied everything and began to hurl an empty threat at her, which she ignored in favor of charging at him, wand inches from his stupid, pointy nose. She allowed herself only a moment of satisfaction as he froze, and then she continued her interrogations. When he had apparently resolved to only answer her with silence, the heat and severity of her questions and accusations escalated. Hermione was losing control and she didn't care, the insults and threats flying out of her mouth with ease. She didn't snap out of it until he unexpectedly locked eyes with her and a dream-like expression came over his pointed features. This took her by surprise, and she paused in confusion.

"D-Draco?" she tried. But before she knew it, she was watching in slow motion as the eyes belonging to one of her least favorite people on the planet lolled-up into his head, and his body dropped rapidly towards the floor.

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Instinctively, Hermione lunged forward and was able to catch Malfoy under his arms, slowing his fall, but not stopping it, as she had been unprepared to suddenly support his weight in its entirety. The pair went careening into a puddle on the floor at the base of the sink Draco had been standing at.

Dazed and alarmed, Hermione struggled to sit up enough to asses the limp Slytherin in her lap. Was this a trick? She felt foolish and then panic-stricken when she realized that he was completely and totally unconscious. Entirely vulnerable. Her instincts kicking in, she started feeling around and looking for signs that he'd hit his head whilst trying to make sense of what had just happened. Despite the frantic nature of her hand motions, it was impossible for her not to experience the gravity of what she was essentially doing at the moment: running her fingers through Draco Malfoy's trademark silvery hair. An unwanted voice in the back of her head noted that it was quite soft and nice. Annoyed, she mentally shoved it away and placed a hand above his nose and mouth: he was breathing. Phew. Just for good measure, she checked his pulse on the side of his neck.

A couple moments later, she was satisfied that he had not hit his head in any way and that his heart was, indeed, beating normally, albeit a bit quickly. She shifted herself so that she cradled his head in her right arm and supported the upper part of his torso with her left reaching across his ( _unexpectedly firm and defined_ , noted the voice) chest and hooking around his ribcage. Hermione huffed, mentally scolding at the voice to shut it and focus.

She then debated what to do next. He had clearly fainted. I could just leave him here and fetch Madame Pomfrey. And tell her what happened? Well that might be incriminating... I could just leave him here… No. No, she could not do that. Even if it was Malfoy. Even though, if the situation were reversed, he would most definitely choose to do that to her.

Nope, this was one of the annoying consequences of being Hermione. She would stay put with Malfoy until he woke-up. To make sure he was okay. No matter how much she detested him. No matter if he had been the one to almost get Katie killed. No matter if he had attempted to poison Dumbledore. No matter how evil he had been to her in the past, or how evil he would be to her in the future. If someone came in and offered to run for help, she would accept, but she would remain put, with Draco Malfoy in her arms until he was well again. She prayed no one would come in and find them though. Her head ached merely at the thought of having to dispel the rumors that would fly and then circulate amongst the students about what had transpired between she and the unconscious Slytherin in the boys bathroom.

She sighed to herself and looked down at him. He looked so... innocent. Well, actually he looked like a bloody mess. His hair was stringy and damp with... perspiration? Tears? Water? Who knows. Purple circles punctuated the undersides of his shut eyes, indicating an intense lack of sleep, and there was a thin, even layer of white-blonde stubble coating his chin, cheeks, and upper lip. His skin was ashen and dehydrated. This unkempt Malfoy was a far cry from the usually meticulously coiffed and groomed Malfoy that sneered at her and her friends almost daily. In spite of all that, however, she couldn't shake the thought of comparing this Malfoy to the 4-year old innocent Malfoy that she had conjured in her mind only a couple of minutes ago in his sudden forced state of slumber.

 _You know,_ mused the voice in her head, _he would really be quite handsome if he weren't such an arse._ Hermione scoffed at the voice, but did not shove it away like she had done in the previous minutes. She felt oddly secure and safe entertaining it whilst Malfoy was passed out in her arms and at her mercy, looking like a child. And so she let the thought stay, allowing herself to study him further.

It was almost poetic looking at someone you hated up-close while they were unconscious, she concluded absently. His despicable character aside, Malfoy was undeniably a looker. Something about his complexion and hair color with features so sharp you could cut yourself on them if you weren't careful. She decided that if he was an animagus, he would be a swan, admiring the way his long, defined neck led gracefully down into the collar of his shirt. Also, she wasn't aware of exactly when he had stopped being scrawny, but his shoulders had now filled out a little, housing wiry, hard muscles beneath his uniform. She knew because breaking his fall had actually hurt her. There was no give in his body at all. No softness. Feeling bold, she allowed her hand to release from his ribcage and float innocently across his chest. Rock solid indeed. The feeling of safety from before rushed back to her and settled in a warm spot in her own chest.

She took a deep breath, just absorbing him like this. And time seemed to stop.

Until he began to stir, of course. Hermione froze.


	3. Chapter 3

**Feeling Faint: Chapter 3**

 _"Draco"_ echoed over and over again in his head. The world was still black, and he groggily noted that the feeling of nausea had not quite subsided.

 _"Draco"_

 _"Draco"_ He groaned wearily in response.

 _"Draco"_

Shut up, he told the echoing voice in his head. The voice would not leave him alone. Would not let him sleep.

 _"Draco"_

But, while the echoing was annoying, it was soft and feminine and it did make him feel comfortable...

 _"Draco"_

He hummed contentedly, deciding to stop fighting it. It was not so bad. In fact, it was growing to quite like it.

"D-Draco?" And then the voice was real. Coming from outside his head. And he inhaled sharply when he remembered who it belonged to. Both voices, the real and the echoing one in his head, belonged to the same person.

His eyes fluttered open, and Hermione Granger was peering down at him, her lips parted nervously. He was stunned as it all came rushing back to him. _Katie Bell. The bathroom. Panic attack. Granger. Yelling. More panic attack. Fainting._

 _Faint-ing._ He had just fainted in front of Granger. _Fuck._ How humiliating. Blood flooded his face in embarrassment.

"Draco. Are you alright?" she asked evenly. "Do... Do you need me to take you to the hospital wing?" He did not even entertain answering her. Instead he spat out the only question that had been floating around in his head.

"Why are you calling me that?" He had meant it to come out viciously, but it came out as more of a strangled gurgle. Not as intimidating as he had hoped.

"What?"

He tried again, "Why are you calling me Draco?" he snapped.

Hermione was taken aback. She didn't know why. She hadn't noticed she was doing it, to be honest.

"You fainted, I was just-"

"I didn't ask you what happened to me, I asked you why you called me by my first name"

"I—"

"Not so good with the words are you? Spit it out."

"I don't know."

"You don't know?" he sneered.

"That's right."

"Brightest witch of your age, my arse."

Hermione recognized a lost cause when she saw one. And she also hated admitting that she didn't know something. So, abruptly, she stood up, dumping him from her embrace. "You are despicable."

As Draco met the cold unforgiving bathroom floor, he realized that Granger had been holding him in her lap.

"Glad to see you're feeling better." she said flatly. "Conserve your energy once you get it back. You'll clearly need it for next time, because we are not done talking about this."

And with that, she turned on her heel and marched away.

Draco was dumbfounded. His mind was foggy, and he felt like piss. Anger rose from deep within him and he slammed his fist on the floor tiles.

"AAARGH" he yelped, clutching his now throbbing hand. His gaze went back to the bathroom entrance where she had just been, and he just stared at it, replayed everything. He wasn't even thinking about the Katie Bell incident that had started this whole thing. Just about the past couple minutes with Granger. Nothing made sense, and everything made sense.

That filthy fucking mudblood had had her hands on me— _She caught me when I fell_ — She was touching me? I could vomit up everything I've eaten the past month at the thought of her vile hands anywhere near me — _Remember when she was angry and beautiful before I fainted?_ — What the? SHUT UP — _She stayed with me when I was passed out_ — That bitch should have never followed me in the first place… Nosy, interrogative freak, Granger is — _"Draco"…_

Draco was not used to voices in his head. He was not used to them at all. And worst of all, a tender, warm feeling had crept into his ribcage and nestled itself there beneath his heartbeat, and it would not go away, which frustrated him beyond belief. He couldn't take it anymore. He wiped his face with his sleeve and swallowed his nausea. Getting up on shaky legs, he willed them to move steadily, and proceeded out of the bathroom and down to the dungeons, not stopping until he'd reached his dormitory. He ripped off his sweat-soaked school uniform, remaining in only his pants, and he flopped down with a huff on his bed. He could justify skipping the two classes he had left in the day to recover from his episode.

But even as he drifted off into slumber, her voice continued to echo around inside his head.

 _"Draco"_

He fought it at first. But, like before, he eventually resolved to let it stay. Only because it was comfortable.

And it was the best sleep he'd had in months.

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Hermione ignored the stares from other students when she emerged out of the boys bathroom. _How could someone so beautiful he be so cruel_ , she thought. She walked back into the Great Hall to find Harry and Ron murmuring between themselves at the Gryffindor table, and she slid onto the same bench as Ron, where she'd been prior to going after Draco.

"That took a while. What'd you do to him, Hermione?" asked Ron.

"Yeah, did you ask him about Katie?" Harry chimed, anxious for information to support his case, no doubt.

"I didn't do anything to that loathsome, evil, good-for-nothing arse!" she snapped.

"Jeez, okay, okay it was just a question... Don't have to bite my bloody head off." Ron trailed off defensively,

She sighed, realizing her anger was misplaced, "I'm sorry. I really am. Nothing. He told me nothing. It- It was a waste of time." This last confession made her unexpectedly sad. She tucked a bit of her hair behind her ears and looked down at her hands. "I think I'm going to go to the library. I'll see you two in the common room later." she said, getting up.

Hermione tried to remember the last time she'd been this disappointed. It bothered her immensely that Draco Malfoy had had such an effect on her, and his question still haunted her, _Why did you call me Draco?_

And that was the thing. She really didn't know. Hermione Granger did not know why she called Malfoy by his first name. She had never called him Draco out loud before. Not to herself, not to Harry and Ron, and certainly not to Malfoy himself. Not even really in her head... She tried to imagine the situation reversed: if Draco called Harry, Harry instead of "Potter", or if he called Ron, "Ron" instead of some offensive mutation of "Weasley". Or... if he called her Hermione. She imagined that being so physically close to him today had allowed her to really see him more clearly, revealing that there was potential good in him. Bringing them just a little bit closer to being able to see eye-to-eye. Maybe a smirking Draco Malfoy would be able to call out to her one day, smiling "Hermione!" The daydream came to her surprisingly easily, and she caught herself smiling slightly as she relived it a couple of times.

 _But he doesn't call me Hermione. He calls me Granger._

She deflated and sighed, entering the library at last. She was still disappointed, and she reckoned she would continue to be.

But the daydream had brought about the return of the small bit of warmth radiating in her chest.

One day in the not-so-distant future, Hermione would smile back on this moment and think to herself, _And, if I'm being honest: once it was there, it never really went out._

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If I do continue this, it will most likely evolve into a series of shorts like this that bounce around, yet connect, throughout the rest of the plot that JK set through the end of HBP, and then I'd ignore the epilogue and take things in my own direction after that. And if that happens, the tile will most likely change. But we'll see what happens!

Constructive reviews are appreciated! Thanks for reading. xoxo


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